What Does It Mean To Be Human In Frankenstein

People tend to have mixed feelings about machinery. On one hand, machines are a fascinating source of power; but on the other, some speculate that machines will become too powerful, enough to take over humanity. This is most recently demonstrated by the fear of human-like AI replacing humanity because people see that this technology resembles humanity in its ability to think. Ironically, advances in technology are caused by human innovation, so if this power shift were to occur, it would be the result of our lust for power. This relationship between humanity and machinery is illustrated in Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley’s Frankenstein and Guy de Maupassant’s “A Railway Story”. These texts explore the consequences of human engineering, as well

Victor Frankenstein faced the consequences of his actions when he brought his creation to life and immediately rejected it: “Unable to endure the aspect of the being I had created, I rushed out of the room and continued a long time traversing my bed-chamber, unable to compose my mind to sleep” (Shelly 59). Frankenstein’s attitude towards his metaphorical machine reflects the laws of machinery, too, as he transitions from working hard, being driven by his fascination with his idea, to the horror of his creation inflicting unforeseen changes. His immediate disgust was the first thing the creature witnessed, and this wasn’t the last time the creature would notice such a reaction upon seeing him. The creature swore revenge on his creator, killing his loved ones in an attempt to make Frankenstein feel the same pain that he did. While the creature possessed autonomy and was directly responsible for the murders, he would never have committed those acts if Frankenstein had never created him in the first place or taken the precautions needed upon doing so. In this way, the creature symbolizes a machine, while Frankenstein, the human, is the cause of machine

While Frankenstein’s creature’s humanity is debatable, his relationship with Frankenstein is implied to reflect a god and his creation. Using his education from books, the creature compares their dynamic to biblical figures, associating Frankenstein with God: “Remember that I am thy creature; I ought to be thy Adam, but I am rather the fallen angel, whom thou drivest from joy for no misdeed” (qtd. in Shelley 114). The creature argues that he should be the first of his kind, like Adam, and therefore treated with respect, but he is instead treated poorly, as he was abandoned by Frankenstein like a fallen angel is cast from heaven. Thus, his banishment from Frankenstein’s affection reflects his banishment from society. As the creature also symbolizes the machine, his rejection from society also implies that one cannot create an authentic human from machinery. “A Railway Story” also contains a human-machine symbolic relationship, but through the love story between the Countess and the strange man, where the man represents the machine. The Countess, acting as the human in command, gives the man a single instruction: “you will never speak to me, not one word, not to thank me or for any other purpose” (qtd. in de Maupassant 5-6). In this story, the man symbolizes the machine because he is blindly